Saturday, July 03, 2010

Day Two Friday, July 2nd, 2010

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.-James 1:5-8

Wisdom is more than just knowledge. Wisdom is using that knowledge correctly. Wisdom is also given by the Lord. We read in 1 Kings 3 about God giving Solomon a wise and understanding heart. We read here in James that if we just lack wisdom, we can simply ask for it. Is our God not a wonderful God? If we realize that we need wisdom, there is nothing wrong with just going to God and saying, “May I have some wisdom please?” and this passage says that he just gives it. Liberally as in abundantly and without reproach as in no need on our part of embarrassment. Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” God wants us to be close to Him. James 4:8 says, “draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your minds, you double-minded.”So how does this apply to me? Funny you should ask, Wanda. God said it. I believe it. James makes the point of emphasizing that we need to believe when we ask. We need to purify our minds. How do we do this? Easy. We wash our minds in the reading of the Word of God. (Check out Ephesians 5:26) I said that I can’t memorize scripture, but I read it all the time. Most of the time, when I’m by myself and there is a verse that I’m thinking of but I can’t remember the exact verse, I’ll search for it. First, I’ll just start flipping through my Bible where I think it may be. Then I’ll pull up some online help and search for it that way. Just now, I searched for a verse about believing as a child, because I know we need to have that kind of faith, but I couldn’t find the verse I was thinking of. Instead, I found other verses about Jesus blessing children and telling His disciples not to forbid them. I also found verses about Jesus warning not to make one of these little ones stumble. He cares about children very much. The verse I was looking for was remembered wrong. He takes a child and sits him in the midsts of the disciples and said “whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 18:4 and if we receive the children, we receive Jesus. (18:5 paraphrase) And that passage reminds me of Matthew 25:40 which says “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did for Me.” And Galatians 4:1 that compares an heir who is a child to a servant until he becomes of age. We are children who are heirs, co-heirs with Christ. Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we indeed suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.I love how looking for one treasure in the Bible reveals His abundant Wisdom. In asking for Wisdom, I learned that I need to not doubt that I will get it. And to help me not doubt, (be double-minded) I must wash in His Word. And what was the wisdom I have found in this washing? I found that I must humble myself as a little child and that I am an heir of all, but until I inherit, I am a servant. Even as I write this, memories of Scriptures are flooding into my head too fast for me to type them up or even dwell on them. God answers. I can testify to that with my life. If you lack wisdom, don’t be afraid to ask. Ask and it will be given. James says that you don’t have because you don’t ask and you ask and don’t have because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your own pleasures. (James 4:2-3 paraphrased) Our God is a rich God who gives us every good and perfect gift (Read James 1:17.)Stuff to look up and read. The book of Judges on how God hears the cries of His people God tells Moses through the burning bush that He hears the cries of his people Isaiah 19:1 Acts 2:21 Romans 10:9

I could talk on all these subjects, but there are some things that God just wants to teach you Himself. I am a teacher and it is my natural… my supernatural (since Ia m appointed a teacher and empowered by the Holy Spirit) inclination to teach on everything. I find it all so fascinating. But God doesn’t want me to teach on everything even though I am to understand them. There are some things that He wants to teach you Himself. Hebrews 8:11 says, “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” If you have the Holy Spirit inside you, you don’t need me to teach you anything. You can go directly to God. I do.

Funny Story:Today, I came across James 1:17 which says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there s no variation or shadow of turning.” And that verse reminded me of someone, so I went to text her that verse, and she was confused as to why. She thought it was a bit random. So I told her that it reminded me of her. Well… it turns out that I mis-typed the reference and typed in James 1:7 instead, which says, “For not let that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;” Whoops. Not exactly what I wanted to say, but God worked it out for good. Just like He says He does. (Read Romans 8:28